


Falling Sky

by Lumelle



Series: Broken Skylark [5]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn
Genre: Adoption, Children, Death, Domestic dispute, Leadership, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Parenthood, Partnership, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-03
Updated: 2011-02-03
Packaged: 2017-10-15 08:24:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/158934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumelle/pseuds/Lumelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dino's marital arguments with Kyouya aren't exactly helped by the growing drift between Cavallone and Vongola. However, when Kyouya disappears and Dino himself is involved in a fatal car accident, everything gets even worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe they are actually that idiotic." Kyouya's steps hurrying down the hallway were remarkably full of rage. The usually so lively mansion seemed suddenly completely devoid of life as every last man scurried off to avoid becoming the target of his wrath. They learned fast. The ones who didn't never survived.

"You've been saying that ever since you first met them, Kyouya." Dino sighed, keeping up pace with his lover. "They're a bunch of old men who basically get paid to know everything better than everyone else. Of course they're idiotic."

"Then fire them." He could almost swear Kyouya was visibly fuming. He was definitely seeing a faint aura of flames about his ring. Great. An irate and destructive lover, just what he needed for a relaxed evening. "It's not like you can't. You're the boss."

"It's not that simple, Kyouya," he reminded. "They're the Cavallone advisors. They've been around since my father's time."

"Oh, really," Kyouya said dryly. "And pray tell me, what was the condition of this family when it fell into your hands?"

Ouch. Low blow. "That doesn't have anything to do with this!" he protested. He noticed he needed to pick up his pace to stay close enough to Kyouya to continue the conversation without shouting. "The fact remains, they're a trusted circle of family advisors that's been around for ages. I cannot just suddenly disregard them simply because you disagree with something they said."

Kyouya came to a very sudden, very sharp halt, turning around to glare at him. "…I cannot help but notice a very distinct lack of first person in that comment, Bucking Horse."

"Don't be like that, Kyouya." Dino sighed again, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not saying that I agree with what they said, just that you might like to consider that maybe, just maybe, your reaction isn't entirely warranted."

"They told you that you need to find a proper wife and get yourself an heir," Kyouya growled, his eyes practically blazing with anger. "They spelled it out very clearly right in front of me. You tell me how I'm supposed to react."

"You know it's just their opinion, Kyouya. It's not like I'm obligated to follow their suggestions."

"Oh, I know that perfectly well." Kyouya mimicked his pose. Dino had to admit it had quite an effect when someone was looking down at him like that as though he were a child to be scolded. "I also know that they have made this argument several times. Every time before, you have cut them off before the idea gets far enough that I would be forced to kill them. This time, you didn't say a word."

"I didn't get a word in sideways is why," Dino snapped in his own defense. "You know perfectly well how they can be when they get started."

"Oh, I don't know. There was a rather clearly available moment of awkward silence when one of them actually stepped forward and pointed out that I do not in fact possess the necessary organs to pop out little foals for their amusement." Kyouya glared at him viciously enough Dino was almost tempted to step back. "You did not disagree. Which I can only take as a sign that you are starting to agree."

"I'm just tired of all the fighting, that's all," Dino sighed. "You know I wouldn't do such a thing to you. I love you, Kyouya. I should think I've made it clear enough."

"Then why is it apparently impossible for you to make those idiots shut up?" his lover spat. "It's been almost two years since I took your name. If you haven't convinced them by now that it is not just some weird phase, I don't think you're really trying all that much."

"I've told them over and over that I will neither leave nor cheat on you," Dino assured him. "I can't exactly help that they don't think it counts unless we are actually married." Oh, he would have loved to marry Kyouya in front of law and God and people. Too bad his home country didn't exactly agree with his ideas of a perfect life.

"I'm perfectly aware we are not actually married, Cavallone. At the moment, that fact is the only thing standing between you and a messy divorce."

Now, Dino had to admit he was actually taken aback by Kyouya's words. "You wouldn't leave me over something like that," he breathed. "…Would you?" Given Kyouya's antisocial tendencies, he had a creeping suspicion that yes, yes, he indeed would.

"…I don't even know." Kyouya shook his head. "I'm angry at both you and those idiotic herbivores. I'm rational enough to recognize that might lead to some unfortunate decisions I may or may not regret later. Just in the unlikely case I might find some kind of a use for you later, I will give myself a moment to calm down." He paused. "I give no guarantee as to what I will do after that."

"…I understand." Even if the knowledge felt like a gun held to his head. One wrong move, and his life would be over. At least the part of it that made it worth living. "I do love you, Kyouya."

"So you keep telling me." Kyouya turned his back to him. "Maybe one of these days, you will show it in a way that will actually matter."

"I would never leave you, not because of anyone," Dino murmured, not sure if Kyouya heard or even listened as he marched right off. "It hurt badly enough when I lost you the first time around."

He spent most of the day in a state of a strange, paranoid fear. He wasn't sure whether his life was about to fall apart around him, and he couldn't really do anything to help the matter either way. Finally, well into the afternoon, he found himself wandering about the garden, trying to distract himself from the fact he currently didn't know where Kyouya was or whether he would be back. However, apparently it was finally his time to catch a break, as the first question was answered quite simply as he spotted the younger man in a far corner of the garden.

"…I remember, you know." Kyouya wasn't looking at him, though obviously he had been noticed. The Cloud was leaning against a tree instead, looking up into its foliage. There was something eerily beautiful about the way he stood in the shade, thick lashes half covering his eyes. But then, Dino always found him beautiful.

"Remember what?" Dino asked quietly, walking close but not too close. He knew better than to get too close to his lover so soon after a fight. He'd had the broken bones to show just why it was such a bad idea.

"I remember… before." He still didn't get even a glance. "Not most of it, thankfully, just… bits and pieces. I remember walking here, sometimes. This was the furthest I could go without stopping to rest."

"I remember that too," Dino murmured. "You liked it here. You always came here when you were upset." He couldn't even begin to count all the times he had gone looking for Kyouya only to find him here, peaceful in the solitude of the rarely disturbed area.

"…Birds often sing at this spot." Kyouya closed his eyes, leaning his head against the tree trunk. "I'd walk all the way here and then sit down because I was so exhausted… I'd hear them sing and I'd feel a little bit easier even though I didn't know why. I tried to sing with them sometimes but I never could manage to sound the same."

"Kyouya…" Dino swallowed. He wasn't sure what to say. There was a reason they rarely discussed the… incident. It was enough they were reminded of it every day, in the ever more complicated patchwork of scars covering Kyouya's lean body, in the way his fingers would never again be as limber as they had been before, in the aches and pains he would never admit to but which allowed Dino to hold him close at night.

"Sometimes I almost wonder if it wouldn't be easier to go back," Kyouya murmured. "Go back to the me who didn't know anything, didn't know to be hurt or offended or enraged by anything. It was… simple. As long as I had some peace and quiet and could find you when I was sleepy, I was more or less happy."

"That wasn't you, though," Dino said quietly. "That was merely a ghost. A ghost of who and what you are. I'm glad you came back."

"…It was because of you, though." Kyouya gave him a brief glance before opening his eyes again. "You brought me back."

"No, Kyouya. You brought yourself back," Dino said firmly. "I was only there to make sure nobody tried to interfere."

"…Hm." Kyouya shook his head slowly. "But without you, I wouldn't have had anything to return to."

"…Kyouya." Dino swallowed. "If – if you have stayed with me out of gratitude or something –" He'd have to go for a bit to find the most dignified way of hanging himself.

"Do you honestly believe I would be capable of something that idiotic?" Kyouya's lips twitched just a bit at the corners. "I do value myself more than that, broken or not."

"…I know." He had never actually believed it might be true. But, he had indeed feared. "Kyouya… I'm sorry. I should have spoken up and I realize that. Trust me, I will make it very clear to them that it just won't happen. I just… I just wish you would understand I have no interest in sleeping with anyone else, for any reason. It's the only thing I wouldn't do even for the sake of the Cavallone name."

"I… wonder." Kyouya shook his head. "I'll let you live for now."

"And live with me, too, right?" Dino inched closer. "I just don't know what I'd do if I lost Kyouya…" Though he suspected it just might involve some very unmanly tears.

"I know plenty of people who would probably throw a party," Kyouya said, finally giving him a proper gaze instead of all the glances and glares. "I also know you aren't smart enough to do that, so I'll settle for not having to find out for a little while longer."

"…Thank you." A small smile touched Dino's lips as he leaned closer to his lover.

Just as they were about to kiss, he heard someone clearing their throat behind him. Springing apart, he turned to glare at his closest man. Kyouya, however, appeared rather calm. "Romario," he said. "What is it?"

"Some bad news, I'm afraid." Romario looked even more harassed than usual. That was enough to make Dino worried, too.

"What is it?" he asked, frowning. "Did someone die or something?"

"…Several someones, I am afraid, boss." Romario shook his head. "At least four of our men were killed and a few more injured in a firefight with another family."

"Who was it?" Dino stood up straight, his eyes narrowing. Nobody was allowed to harm his family in any way or manner. Beside him, he felt more than saw Kyouya adjusting his position, too.

"According to eyewitnesses…" Romario sighed more deeply than Dino could remember him ever doing before. "…It was Vongola."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Romario gives them the details, which sadly are not too pleasant. Dino is stressed, but Kyouya reminds him of certain facts.

"...So." Back in the safety of his study, Dino looked seriously at Romario over his desk. Kyouya was in the corner, leaning against a wall, apparently unconcerned though Dino knew very well he was listening closely to every word. "What exactly happened?"

"A fight between some of our men and some of Vongola's, as it appears," Romario sighed, setting a few papers on his desk and pushing them closer for Dino's inspection. "A few men recognized by the survivors as Vongola opened fire. Our men responded to the fire. We aren't sure what the damages were on the other side, but we do know our losses."

"And they are definitely sure it was Vongola men?" Dino frowned. That sounded a bit too precise. "How can they be so certain?"

"One of the men present recognized one of the attackers," Romario replied. "They had previously worked together some years ago in an allied operation with Vongola. He was absolutely positive about the matter. We are currently running it through our information department, but it really doesn't seem to leave much room for speculation."

"But why would any of Vongola's men attack ours?" Dino asked. It just didn't make any sense whatsoever. "We have been allied with them for ages. The pact of non-aggression has been in place even before I took over as a boss, and since Tsuna took charge of Vongola it's been re-established several times. What possible reason would they have to break such a pact?"

"Suffice it to say that we are currently looking into the matter." Romario shook his head seriously, a frown on his face. Romario frowning was rarely a good sign. "The word is spreading fast, despite our best efforts to the contrary. I understand there's quite some disgruntlement among the ranks."

"Can't say I blame them," Dino murmured, looking over the papers. The reports were rather matter of fact; there weren't many details yet, as the incident had only just been brought to their attention, but it did list things such as the personal information of the deceased and injured men. "How badly were the others injured?"

"At least one of them is not expected to make it," Romario replied gravely. "The number might yet rise, but at least they are all currently in hospital and receiving proper care."

"What exactly were the details of the attack?" Kyouya cut in from his corner. "I rather doubt they just randomly opened fire on a street and happened to hit our men." Even after years, it still made Dino's heart skip a beat when he heard Kyouya referring to Cavallone family as 'theirs'. Of course, he never made any mention of it; Kyouya would certainly have punished him for such useless herbivore sentimentality.

"Not exactly, no." Romario sighed. "Apparently, some of our men were gathered in a restaurant to go over some of the local affairs. The Vongola men entered the restaurant and opened fire without much of a warning. Thankfully it was a quiet time of the day, so there were no other casualties. What's more, our survivors reported that the other customers weren't actually targeted at all, so we can pretty much conclude that this was a deliberate attack."

"Is there any chance of a misunderstanding?" Dino asked. He knew he was grasping at straws here, but he did need to account for every possibility. "Could they have mistaken our men for members of some other group?"

"Obviously we cannot answer that definitively without getting the Vongola men's accounts, but at this point, it seems rather unlikely," Romario told him with a regretful tone. "Especially given that the restaurant was our property, a fact that the Vongola most likely would know."

"Illusions?" Kyouya asked next. He had walked closer now, leaning against the desk at Dino's side to look closer at the reports. "It would be awfully easy to mask a hostile attack as the work of Vongola to hide the real culprits."

"Again, possible but unlikely," Romario replied. "We have sent out an inquiry to Vongola, obviously, to get their side on the affairs, but none of the involved men reported any obvious mist activity. What's more, the ability to disguise an attack so completely is not exactly common; the number of illusionists skilled enough to pull this off is rather small."

"I see." Kyouya still sounded doubtful. Of course. He never trusted anything that could possibly have any illusionist involvement whatsoever. "And when can we expect word back from Vongola?" He lifted his hand to touch briefly the ring hanging on a chain around his neck. While he still firmly denied any voluntary involvement with the Vongola guardians, he did carry the ring wherever he went, using it whenever he required his cloud flames. He claimed it was because normal rings tended to shatter in his use -- the unfortunate fate of any mist rings that ended up in his hands -- and Dino considered it wise to refrain from pointing out all the times Kyouya participated in Vongola operations that had no direct involvement with Cavallone affairs.

"It shouldn't take long," Romario replied. "If this is true, we are looking at a rather serious case of breach of alliance. They will have to take this seriously, even more so considering our close ties." Meaning the fact Tsuna was a personal friend of Dino's, never mind the involvement concerning Kyouya. There was hardly any bond that could have tied two families closer together than that of marriage of influential members, and though his union with Kyouya hardly matched the legal definition of marriage, both Tsuna and Dino himself certainly considered it to be an equivalent.

"One hopes so," Dino murmured, frowning at the reports. These men all had ties as well. They had families, friends, allies. All of whom were currently grieving -- and angry. "The last thing we want is for this to escalate into anything worse."

"Too bad we rarely get what we wish for," Kyouya murmured. Much though Dino would have liked to scold him for his pessimism, he found himself unable to do anything but agree. Kyouya was right, after all. There were always things they couldn't control by any decrees or orders or regulations, and the feelings of human beings certainly fell within that category. It was sometimes downright impossible to tell a man he couldn't take his vengeance and expect him to obey, much though Dino would have liked to.

"That's exactly why we need to act on this now, before it gets out of hand," Dino reminded him. "If we can get everything sorted out honorably, perhaps we can prevent any more deaths from occurring."

"That's not what I find the main concern here," Kyouya said. Of course he would disagree. "What interests me more is what started this in the first place. I have no evidence against these men being just plain idiots, but even idiots generally don't do things without a reason. If those Vongola men attacked us, they did it for some cause or another, and I rather doubt some small fry were intentionally aiming to start a full-out war."

"You're right," Dino admitted. "They had to have some kind of a reason for suddenly going on a killing spree against allies. And if I find out it was indeed our men who started this..." His expression hardened. "If any of them survive, I will most definitely make them wish they were dead." He would not tolerate any such behavior from his men. None. Much though he disliked the thought of actually dispensing punishment among his ranks, working to compromise the safety of the family as a whole was unforgivable.

A hand settled over his. Glancing at it, he saw the scar-riddled fingers entwining with his, the pale skin in stark contrast with the neatly drawn black "C" on the back of Kyouya's hand. His gaze travelling up, he found himself meeting Kyouya's grave eyes. "Just leave that part for me, Bucking Horse," Kyouya said, his soft voice somehow managing to convey both blood lust and a twisted kind of affection. "I'm better suited for such cruelty." Now, his lips curled into a tiny, crafty little smirk.

If Dino hadn't known better, he would have sworn he saw Romario smiling from the corner of his eye.

*

Sighing, Dino closed the door behind himself, making sure it shut with a rather definitive locked little click. Finger hooking into his tie, he loosened it enough to pry it off, already walking further into the room. "This whole thing is driving me crazy," he complained, starting to unbutton his shirt. "I just received word from the hospital. The fifth man that Romario mentioned? Didn't make it." Shaking his head, he sighed. "Another death to account for."

"We have five thousand men," Kyouya pointed out wryly, stretching himself in a rather lazy fashion on the bed. Dino was momentarily lost in letting his gaze dance over his lover's body, the pale, scarred expanses rather a delicious sight against the bed sheets. "Five out of that is not exactly a lot."

"It's five more than there should be," Dino reminded him. Not that he expected Kyouya to be entirely serious, but it wasn't like he could just let such comments simply slide by, either. "Even one man dead without an apparent reason is too many, and you know that very well."

"I do know that." Kyouya looked up from the book he had apparently been reading. "However, just as you, I also know that we cannot yet determine whether there was a reason or not."

"Which is why I said apparent." Discarding his shirt, Dino went on to work on his pants. "I just can't wrap my head around this. Such random shootings make no sense no matter what, but to involve one of your strongest allies is just... idiotic. What were those men thinking? What could be reason enough to drive them to it?"

"Nothing good on television?" Kyouya ignored his glare. "Don't look at me like that, Dino. You know as well as I do that no matter how much you'd like to think otherwise, there will always be people who enjoy violence for violence's sake. You're stuck with me, you should know as much."

"But you don't do it without a reason," Dino argued. "Sure, you sometimes fight more than you probably should, but at least it's not entirely without rhyme or reason. You have some kind of a motivation, even if it's just that they were crowding."

"And these men had some kind of a motivation as well," Kyouya replied. "Who knows? Maybe our men weren't quite as sweet and innocent as you'd like to think they were. Nothing says that just because they're on our side, they will be always nice and proper."

"I know that. And it bugs me even more." Kicking off his pants, he sat down on the edge of the bed. "If they did something to provoke the attack, then we are obviously at fault here. In which case we will have to make up for it somehow."

"One wouldn't think you'd have much of a problem with making amends with Sawada Tsunayoshi." Kyouya rolled his eyes. "Or that he would demand much of a compensation."

"That's not what I meant." Dino shook his head. "This might be a matter of our men harming allies. And nice or not, I do expect my men to at least be loyal. Something like that is just... why would anyone do that?" He leaned against his knees, running a hand through his hair. "It just doesn't make any sense to me..."

"See, that's your problem." Cool hands settled on his shoulders, starting to knead the muscles perhaps a bit too harshly. "You think everyone follows the same herbivorous instincts you do, when nothing could be farther from the truth. Some people simply don't care, Bucking Horse. Not everyone follows the golden rules of loyalty."

"If they call themselves Cavallone men, they had damn well better do so," Dino complained, then moaned aloud as Kyouya's fingers found a particularly painful spot on his shoulders. "Oh, that's… Oh!"

"This whole affair has you far too tense," Kyouya murmured, continuing to work on his shoulders. "You think too much on this whole thing."

"One should think you would understand a matter of pride," Dino shot back. That at least was one thing he and Kyouya had always agreed on.

"I do understand pride, Dino. Pride and honor is paying your dues and settling your matters. Mulling over the possible reasons why some petty thug would act like an idiot has nothing to do with that."

"Then what do you suppose I do?" Dino snapped. Kyouya was always very skilled at criticizing his actions, but offering alternate solutions wasn't apparently as pleasant.

"You wait until we hear back from Vongola, obviously." Now, what touched his neck was a pair of lips, followed by a small yet sharp nip by fine little teeth. "And until then... I might find a way to help you unwind."

Dino chuckled. "I'm sure." Turning back to face his lover, he caught Kyouya's mouth in a kiss.

Thankfully not every part of his life was inherently stressful.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuna and Dino try to solve the problem. Kyouya, however, has his own plans.

Tsuna, Dino thought as he walked into the meeting room, had grown. Not only physically, though he'd thankfully gained some size on his previously so scrawny little body; he'd also gotten more impressive in other, rather less tangible ways. He sat up straighter, for one thing, and the gaze he gave Dino as they got seated opposite to each other was that of a leader, not of a meek follower. It was enough to make him feel proud.

Of course, he hadn't ever imagined he would be on this side of that gaze.

Kyouya stood by a wall, arms crossed over his chest. Though he'd insisted on being present – he did share the responsibilities of Don Cavallone, after all – he had also made it clear the discussion, or negotiation should it come to that, would be in Dino's hands unless Kyouya considered it necessary to interfere.

Looking at the man he considered almost his little brother, Dino rather hoped the matters wouldn't get difficult enough for Kyouya to have to step in.

"...Dino-san." Tsuna's eyes were still gravely serious as they gazed at him. "Today, I had a talk with three children. I had to tell them their fathers would not be coming back home, ever."

Dino frowned. That was most certainly not a good approach here. "I had to talk with four children and three widows, Tsuna-kun," he said quietly. "One of the widows was pregnant. Her husband was twenty-three. He was twenty-three and he never even saw his first child being born."

"In that case, he might want to blame himself." Tsuna's eyes narrowed in a most uncharacteristic manner. "Those three children weren't orphaned by your men's return fire, Dino-san. Their fathers were killed in the incident that spurred my men to take action."

"I have no knowledge of such an incident." Dino frowned. "My subordinates know very well not to fight with the Vongola. And even if – if – hypothetically an incident had taken place, the standard procedure would have been for you to notify us and enter negotiations over reparations, not walk into a peaceful restaurant and open fire."

"I assure you, their actions were not sanctioned by any authority of the family," Tsuna replied. "I only heard of the initial incident while we were looking into the background of this one. However, the fact remains that your men broke the pact first. Three of your subordinates attacked my men, without any kind of provocation, and killed three of them and wounded another. The ones involved in the act of revenge were friends and relatives of those first victims."

Now, it was Dino's turn to narrow his eyes. "If that is true, anyone guilty of such an act will be punished most harshly," he said. "Rest assured I will look into the cause –"

"It's too late to punish them," Tsuna interrupted him. "Those involved in the initial incident from your side were all among the dead in the restaurant strike."

"So now we won't get any actual answers from them, either." Dino sighed. "...Though given the situation, I will have to say it appears it has escalated beyond whatever disagreement caused the first attack. All those men involved in the restaurant incident had close associates as well, and even if the first strike was as unprovoked as you claim, several of them had done nothing to earn the vengeance of Vongola."

"Yet the first incident was your doing," Tsuna pointed out. "Much though I hate to say this... as long as this matter is not resolved, I'm forced to view this as breach of alliance on your part." His eyes were surprisingly cold. Dino had never thought he could actually look so... threatening. Certainly not towards him.

Well, the Don Cavallone wasn't about to be startled by something so trivial. Sitting even straighter in his chair, he gave the other boss a similar gaze. "I assure you, we will look very thoroughly into this matter," he said calmly. "And whoever has sought to cause trouble to our family... will be punished." Even if, he thought with the slightest bit of regret, even if it was Vongola.

"Most excellent." Tsuna clasped his hands together, resting his chin on them as he looked at Dino. "We, too, will investigate these incidents... and then act accordingly."

"Until we reach a solution, though," Dino said slowly, "we will have to issue a general warning within the family... to be on look-out towards any further hostile acts from Vongola." It wasn't quite a declaration of war, oh no, but... it was a step away from peace. And, much though it pained him to say it, the safety of his own famiglia had to come before anything else.

"That is quite understandable." Tsuna nodded slowly, his expression just as serious as Dino's. He doubted the younger man was enjoying this, either. They were both in pain over their losses, after all, and were now forced to ignore their personal feelings for the good of their families. "We, too, shall issue a similar warning, and cease any coordinated activity until further notice."

"That would probably be for the best." He did trust Tsuna. However, he did not trust every last man in Vongola. He didn't even trust all of his own men to stay peaceful, even if he was absolutely sure they all were loyal to him until the end. Better minimize the risks involved lest there be even more incidents.

"...Which, of course, does raise a question." Tsuna's eyes flickered towards Kyouya. "Where do you stand... Kyouya-san?"

"One should think it is obvious," Dino said before Kyouya managed to say anything. "He is Kyouya Cavallone, after all."

"Don't speak for me, Bucking Horse." Kyouya's eyes were steely on him as he pushed himself away from the wall, a scarred hand brushing hair from his face.

"Oh?" Tsuna raised his eyebrows. "Are you going to stand among the other Guardians, then?"

"...As you might recall, there is a certain clause in our contract concerning a situation such as this." They had thought he was crazy for requesting said clause. Now it seemed he had merely been careful. Of course, they had also thought it quite exaggerated that he had thought there would be need for a contract specifying the details of their union. "If Vongola and Cavallone ever come to a disagreement about an important issue... I reserve the right to decide for myself where I stand in terms of affiliation, with neither of you trying to interfere with my decision with your influence."

"So what is your decision here, then?" As though Tsuna could have any influence on Kyouya. ...As though Dino himself could.

"My decision is that I'm going to wait until I have actual information until I even attempt to pass judgment." Kyouya shook his head. "I'll set the Foundation on this case and see if they can't unearth any kind of an explanation for this farce. I would suggest that you both wait for the results and try to keep your little sheep from going on any more murderous rampages in the meantime."

Dino nodded slowly. That... sounded reasonable.

He could only pray that Kyouya's investigations would indeed bring results.

*

"Kyouya, don't do this." He didn't know why exactly he was rushing after his lover, trying to convince him. He knew better than well that his words could do very little to turn Kyouya's head once he'd set his mind on something.

"I'd like to see you stop me." Kyouya's tone made it quite clear that such a thing would not be possible, at least not given the resources Dino was willing to use against him.

"It's not necessary," Dino said, still trying to reason though he was starting to believe it was rather useless. "You know they are just looking for ways to irritate you."

"Well, guess what? They found their ways." Kyouya hmphed. "It's one thing to hear them complain about how I'm not able to give you a precious little heir. I'm not going to stand around and listen to them theorize about how my very presence in your life is just a big Vongola conspiracy to keep you childless. Honestly! As though I would allow anyone to use myself in such a manner."

"Then I'll make them shut up," Dino said, starting to feel somewhat desperate. This... wasn't right. Sure, Kyouya had a habit of disappearing when he got too annoyed with all the crowding on the Cavallone estate. That was quite normal, and while he wasn't about to say he liked it, he understood it, and he knew it wasn't permanent. He could always count on Kyouya returning sooner or later when he'd cooled down enough. This... well. This was certainly a first.

Never before had Kyouya actually announced that he was going to leave.

"You know as well as I do that the only ways to do that would be to kill them or relieve them of their duties," Kyouya replied wryly. "And since you are not about to do either, it'd be for the best if I simply remove myself from your presence."

"Are you really going to let your words get to you?" Dino asked, hitting what he knew was a weak spot. "I never thought you were that weak, Kyouya..."

He could hardly even blink as there suddenly was a tonfa mere inches from his face, Kyouya standing just a step away from him. "I will not be tied down by anyone," he hissed, "neither by you nor by Vongola. And I won't let anyone think so, either."

"I never thought so, Kyouya," Dino said quietly, forcing himself to stay calm. "It's just... usually you just disappear when you get too annoyed. This kind of declaration just isn't like you." This declaration made him afraid Kyouya might not return, this time.

"...I've set the Foundation to work," Kyouya said lowly. "Every time there's a new incident, my men are there, gathering information and investigating leads."

"I know that." Dino nodded, swallowing. No matter what he and Tsuna said, the spiral of vengeance had started, and stopping it was anything but easy. With the hostilities ranging from small skirmishes to bigger battles without an end in sight, all that now stood between them and an open war with Vongola was the lack of an official declaration of war.

"Except now, they are being hindered," Kyouya continued, his tone still quiet. "No matter which side's actions they are examining, there are people trying to stop them. Trying to fight with them. There are Vongola who say that because I bear your name, my men must also be Cavallone agents. There are Cavallone who say that because I bear Sawada's ring, my men must also be Vongola."

"But... that doesn't make any sense," Dino said quietly. "Foundation is an independent organization. It was set to be one from the start."

"I know that. You know that. Even Sawada Tsunayoshi is well aware of that. However, those idiotic herbivores apparently can't get it through their thick skulls." Kyouya shook his head. "If it's my attachment that is hindering their work... then, until this situation has been resolved, I will remove myself from such hindrances."

Hindrance. That was all he was to Kyouya, in the end.

"I... see." Dino sighed. "I suppose I cannot stop you, then." His eyes flickered to the back of Kyouya's hand, to the carefully crafted initial there. He shouldn't have been so worried, surely. After all, Kyouya was his, as much as Kyouya could ever be said to belong to anyone. Or, rather, he belonged to Kyouya. It wasn't like he could have ever imagined to lay any actual claim on the Cloud. At least not any claim that Kyouya himself didn't approve of.

"Indeed you cannot." Then, much to his surprise, Kyouya leant closer, just enough to press a light kiss on his lips. "...I will find whoever is behind all this trouble, without fail."

"I know you will." Dino smiled faintly. "If only because they are irritating you."

"Why else?" Kyouya's lips twitched into that familiar little smirk that was just the slightest bit lopsided nowadays as one of his scars hindered the movement. "Don't let yourself get killed before I get back."

"I'd like to say the same, Kyouya." The closest his lover would ever come to saying that he cared about him.

It wouldn't take that long, surely, Dino assured himself. Much though the increasing number of incidents pained him, it also meant more data for Kyouya's men to work on. Sooner or later this would all be resolved and Kyouya could return back to his life.

Suddenly, though, a terrible sense of dread filled him, as though someone in the back of his mind had just declared that this was the last time he saw Kyouya, this image of his retreating back the last time he ever laid eyes on the man he loved more than anyone else.

Before he could say anything, though, Kyouya was already gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyouya finds some clues. Dino, meanwhile, misses him. It doesn't make the bad news any easier.

It had, Kyouya thought, been quite a while since he'd spent this long in the Foundation headquarters. For the last few years, he'd only made short stops on his way somewhere else. Tetsu took care of most of the actual leading, nowadays, sending everything that needed his attention over to Italy. It was good enough an arrangement, and worked well for him – and, whatever some people might have suspected, it also ensured that Foundation stayed independent of Cavallone. They were his men, after all, not a part of the Cavallone family, and he was damn well going to keep them separate. After all, a lot of Foundation's influence in the mafia world rested on the fact that they were seen as impartial when it came to their information and research. He wasn't about to undermine that influence.

Now, he was back, back in the headquarters and back in his office, going through papers and reports and queries for the third day in row. Meanwhile, the strikes over in Italy continued to pile up, each one followed by a bloodier and deadlier retaliation from the other side. Dino was doing his best to calm people down, as was Sawada, but the rage had reached boiling point and wouldn't be calmed down by now.

Though he received a report about each strike, he was yet to look into the details. He wasn't interested in those. They made sense, more or less, as much as acts of vengeance ever did, motivated by grief and pain and anger. Figuring them out didn't take much of an effort. No, what he was looking at was the original incident, as claimed by Vongola.

Of course, he could hardly get any real answers, not when all of those involved in the original incident were dead. However, he could ask for reports and documents and testimonies, and that was exactly what he had done. Pulling a few strings within the Cavallone family, pushing a few people over on Vongola's side, using the resources of the Foundation, he was building the picture like a jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece by piece.

Only now, on the third day, he came across a piece that wouldn't fit no matter how he turned it around.

He had the names of the men involved, of course. He had the time and place of the attack and some information about their movements. He had everything he needed to make sense of the how, if not the why.

Except for the report currently sitting on his desk, very clearly stating that one of the supposed culprits had been on the other side of Italy on that very day, as testified by an uninvolved third party.

This, it was clear, didn't make sense. It couldn't make sense – except where illusions were concerned. He trusted the report, and the Vongola men had no reason to lie, either. Which meant that someone had disguised themselves as one of Cavallone's men in order to attack Vongola. It was quite possible that the other two had been mere disguises as well.

It wasn't Vongola. He was sure about that much. Nobody in Vongola could possibly benefit from an escalating conflict with one of their strongest allies. It wouldn't have made any sense for them to start the chain reaction, especially not in such a roundabout way. Someone inside Vongola could certainly have started it off without the need for a disguised motivation.

If it wasn't Vongola, though… well. That opened certainly quite a number of possibilities.

He was fairly sure the death of the original victims hadn't been the main goal, here. Had that been the case, there wouldn't have been any need for the use of a specific human disguise; merely hiding their own identity would have been quite enough. No, someone had meant for Vongola to blame Cavallone, and quite likely for them to fall into this little ping-pong game of retaliation and vengeance. That meant that the culprit was someone who would benefit from their conflict. Someone who wanted to weaken them... or who wanted a distraction.

The latter was more likely, he decided. The tight bonds between Cavallone and Vongola were well known in the mafia world; it would have been quite daring to count on the conflict to carry on even as long as it had. Given their superior resources compared with most other families, seriously weakening either of them through this scheme was rather unlikely. However, anyone seeking a short-time distraction would have been quite successful. Neither Vongola nor Cavallone appeared to currently have eyes for anything but each other, in the worst sense possible, and half of the rest of the mafia world kept looking at them as well.

That was still not enough to weed out the candidates, of course. Quite a few would benefit from avoiding the eyes of the strongest families; it would take forever to look through all the transactions and missions carried out while they were looking elsewhere. However, if he were to start his investigation from their resources...

Reaching a hand to the button that summoned Tetsu from the next room over, he ran quickly through the mechanics in his head.

"Kyou-san?" His second-in-command looked in through the doorway.

"Where are our records about mafia illusionists?" Kyouya asked. "I want a full report on the top levels on my desk in an hour."

Tetsu nodded. "How high of a level are we looking at?"

"Anyone capable of disguising a human as another enough to be recognized as them." That would be the bare minimum for the success of this trick, after all.

Again, a nod. "That narrows it down quite a bit," Tetsu said. "You'd need high-level rings for that, too. I'll have someone run through a check on our records of ring traffic, too."

"Excellent." He nodded slowly. "Also – I want the full mission records on all three Cavallone men supposedly involved in the original shooting incident." After all, to be able to disguise someone as them, the culprit would have had to know them.

"Got it." Tetsu wrote something down. "Illusionists, rings, mission records – anything else?"

"Not for the moment, no." He ran a hand through his hair. "I need to see which families to concentrate on before I go any deeper. You might want to get someone started on looking for business records in general, though; I'll let you know once I figure out who to look into specifically."

"I'll get you everything in an hour."

Kyouya sighed as Tetsu left, stretching his arms. His neck was starting to get stiff from sitting still all this time, a scar on his shoulder developing a quiet ache in the old wound. Not that he was about to admit that, of course.

Dino never even asked. Dino always simply knew, not needing to hear Kyouya saying anything, simply observing the moments when he was dealing with his aches or unwelcome stiffness as traces of the tortures his body had been put through. He never mentioned it, of course, he knew better than to do so, but he did always make Kyouya feel slightly better by massaging the aching parts. Kyouya usually let him, partly because Dino never made much of a fuss about it, long since resigned to the fact his body had been broken in a fairly unpleasant manner and refusing to acknowledge the fact would have been nothing short of foolish.

Dino wasn't here now, though. Dino was over in Italy, trying his very best to keep this mess from getting any worse.

Reaching to organize some of the papers in a pile, Kyouya's eyes caught on the 'C' on the back of his hand. It was nothing fancy, simply the initial and nothing else, none of the decorations and embellishments Dino had chosen to accompany his little marking, but it was still the exact same shape that had long since been inscribed on his lover's arm. Of course, the Cavallone insignia was hardly the only one of Dino's tattoos, whereas Kyouya himself had chosen to go without anything but this simple symbol.

It was better than a ring, he'd said dryly to Sawada as the man had once gathered up his courage to ask about the tattoo. Rings could be broken or stolen, as he'd come to notice, and in any case he quite disliked wearing rings nowadays unless he absolutely had to, metal around his fingers only working to emphasize the occasional stiffness and pain of his scar-riddled hands. It was quite unexpected of him, as he well knew, taking on such a symbol after years and years spent making it very clear that he followed no one and belonged nowhere. However, like it or not, he had come to admit that even he did have some things in life he preferred to keep the same. And, unlikely though it might have seemed, Dino Cavallone was certainly one of those things. After all, Dino was his, and if bearing his name and mark made it clearer to everyone, then he could bear that burden.

Dino had never questioned, never wondered, hardly even mentioned. All he had done was add the silhouette of a bird in flight to his collection of tattoos. Not a skylark, though. Never the skylark, anymore.

He was, after all, a Cavallone now.

*

He missed Kyouya.

Of course, this was hardly a surprising observation. He had been missing Kyouya ever since the other had left. He did call Kyouya every day, the last time being this very morning, but it just wasn't the same as the other being there. Waking up to an empty bed was not exactly his favorite way to start a day.

Sighing, he leaned back on his seat in the back of the car, ignoring Romario's concerned gaze. At least it wouldn't be long anymore, he reassured himself. Kyouya had told him he'd found some clues as to the true origin of their troubles. In his end, Dino had managed to agree with Tsuna to start some form of negotiations. It wouldn't be easy to placate everyone, he knew that much, but he refused to let any more of his men die because of something that was not, according to Kyouya, one bit their fault initially. Hopefully, they could come to some sort of an agreement. Hopefully, all their men would honor the temporary ceasefire, if only just for today. Hopefully, he could go to bed tonight without regretting any more deaths he hadn't been able to prevent.

His cold, empty bed that held no Kyouya.

Looking down at the signet ring on his hand, he sighed. His advisers had taken Kyouya's leave as a sign that they were going to break up, of all things, trying to convince him to take this opportunity to find himself a more suitable partner. Obviously, he had made it very clear that he had no such intentions whatsoever. He was going to stay faithful to Kyouya no matter what; they'd solve the question of an heir somehow. It wasn't like this was the time to worry about such things, anyway. One might have thought they'd consider the hostilities with the most powerful famiglia somewhat more pressing than his lack of a child.

If they bothered him about it one more time, he thought, he just might let Kyouya bite them all to death when he returned. It wasn't like he ever followed their advice, anyway. As Kyouya had rightly pointed out, his father had listened to them, and left the family in ruins.

First, though, Kyouya had to return.

He could hardly wait.

*

Tessaro famiglia.

Of course, he couldn't be entirely sure yet. For all that he was tempted to just fly right back and go on a murderous rampage, he couldn't do that without some evidence. However, he was sure he would find some soon. After all, everything else pointed towards them. They had the illusionist, one who had worked on a mission with all three indicted Cavallone men before, therefore perfect for pulling off the ridiculous little masquerade to spark everything off. They had benefited from it, snatching a couple of business deals that would certainly have gone to Cavallone had their attention not been focused elsewhere for the moment. They were big enough to have the resources, but small enough that they would not draw too much attention, certainly not when the big families started squabbling with each other.

The only problem with the Tessaro was that according to the reports Kyouya had got, they currently had their eyes on yet another business opportunity, bigger than the ones they had already managed to get. However, it was also one that Cavallone was expected to pursue. This, obviously, meant that they would want the distractions to continue for another while.

Well, they would be disappointed. Kyouya was going to make sure they missed this opportunity, right before he had them nailed for starting this entire farce. How dare such herbivores mess with his life, indeed.

There was a strangely timid knock on his door. Raising his eyebrows, he looked over to the door. "Yes?"

The first thing he noticed was that Tetsu was awfully pale as he entered. "Kyo-san," he said, not bothering with any kind of niceties. "We just received a call from Italy."

"Oh?" He frowned. He'd just talked with Dino not too long earlier. Something had to have happened for him to call again, and Kyouya rather doubted it was successful negotiations, judging by Tetsu's expression. "So why wasn't the call directed to me?"

"It – it wasn't Dino-san who called." Tetsu sighed. "Apparently... his car was attacked. An explosive of some kind, it appears; it wasn't too destructive but caused the car to crash. We are currently looking for the culprit, but the situation is rather chaotic, and Romario appears to have gone missing."

"...Dino." He wasn't going to ask if the other was fine. If he had been, Tetsu would have already said as much. The very fact that his second-in-command was avoiding the issue meant that something was wrong. "What happened to him? How badly was he hurt?" Why did he care? Why was it suddenly so important for him to know? It was just one man. Just one man who was just barely better than a common herbivore.

Just one man who belonged to him, heart and body and soul.

Tetsu paused, and during that small pause Kyouya already managed to imagine a thousand different terrifying scenarios. However, none of them seemed to be quite as shocking as what he finally heard.

"...Dino-san was pronounced dead on the site."

With that one simple sentence, Kyouya's world came crashing down around his ears.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the funeral, Don Vongola and Don Cavallone talk. Meanwhile, someone, somewhere, is scheming.

It should have been raining, Tsuna thought, feeling somewhat numb as he looked up to the sky. It should have been raining, to match the morose atmosphere, but instead they were treated to some lovely Italian sun that seemed to care very little that they had just lost someone very precious. Despite the anguish of wearing black suits on such a sunny day, nobody seemed to be affected by the weather. At the least, nobody would let it show.

The funeral was attended by many, as was only to be expected; Dino had been much beloved both among his own family and the allies. Tsuna had first been tentative about attending the occasion, but then come to the conclusion that staying away would have been a grave insult, as they were still technically allied with Cavallone. That, and he wouldn't have forgiven himself if he had actually missed Dino's funeral.

It still felt strange, thinking that Dino was... away. Strange and somehow unreal, he thought to himself, as though none of this was actually happening. It wasn't like Dino could really die, after all. Dino wasn't supposed to die. Any moment now he'd walk up to them and grin and apologize for being so late, now what did I miss Tsuna, why does everyone look so depressed and why don't we all cheer up. However, he knew that wasn't about to happen. The casket would not be opened from the inside.

Even in the crowd, Kyouya-san somehow managed to stand a little ways from everyone else, Kusakabe nearby but not quite too near. Romario was nowhere to be seen. Tsuna had heard he had disappeared right after the incident. Some said he had been involved, but Tsuna knew that was ridiculous; Romario would have died rather than let any harm come to Dino if he could help it. Much good that would have done. According to the paramedics, Dino had died right away, the crash following the first explosion snapping his neck even before the fire caused by the second one had burned his body. If it hadn't been for the Cavallone signet ring in his hand, he had been told, they wouldn't have been able to identify him at the site.

The ring sat now in Kyouya-san's hand, cleaned and polished yet still strangely contrasting with the pale, scarred hand. He was guarded from all sides by silent, black-clad men, Foundation and Cavallone alike. Nobody dared quite meet his gaze.

There were no disturbances during the funeral, no attacks or hostilities or even a cross word. The Vongola and Cavallone men were apparently content to simply glare at each other suspiciously, having been well informed that no hostilities would be tolerated. Not now. Not when they were burying a man who had never born actual ill will towards anyone.

Tsuna was vaguely aware that Kyouya-san said a few words, nothing offensive or scandalous enough to shock the elderly dons attending into heart attacks, not that Tsuna actually remembered any of it afterwards. The only thing he remembered was the one moment Kyouya-san's voice almost trembled, he suspected nobody else noticed it but his intuition couldn't miss it, couldn't miss that one, fleeting moment when actual pain and sorrow broke through the mask of cold silence, the hand bearing the mark of "C" clenching momentarily into a fist.

Don Cavallone Undicesimo. Their marriage had perhaps not been legal, their union anything but traditional, but Dino's will had been clear enough. Tsuna himself had been witness to it. In case Dino were to perish untimely, the Cavallone Famiglia and everything it stood for was to fall into Kyouya-san's hands. He certainly had taken control of the family quickly, putting an end to any beginning stirs of chaos in the wake of Dino's death, coolly gathering all the strings together and weaving them into a puppet show the likes of which had rarely been seen even in the mafia world. Tsuna had no doubt that the Cavallone Famiglia would stand just as strong – stronger, even, though colder, the same way Kyoua-san had always been stronger than Dino simply because he was cruel enough not to hesitate to deliver that one last blow.

He almost feared to think what the family would morph into, left in the hands of a man who had just lost the most important thing in his life. He could only pray it wouldn't become something impossible to recognize.

"...Don Cavallone." Both their guards were tense as he caught Kyouya-san after the ceremony, coming to a halt some ways from the other, not going closer than necessary. He could practically feel the tension in Gokudera's body, his Storm Guardian about to pounce into action if needed, but a small gesture from Tsuna held him back. It wouldn't do for Gokudera to get out of control, now. This was no more a matter of yelling at a fellow guardian for not showing up when told to; this was bigger, bigger and more dangerous and governed by infinitely more rules. "I am sorry for your loss."

"Don Vongola." Kyouya-san nodded briefly, his eyes even colder than usual. His thumb fiddled with the signet ring, obviously not used to it. "...I wasn't sure whether to expect you."

"We are still allies, for better or for worse," Tsuna replied. "I would have to be quite rude not to attend the funeral of an important ally... even if we were currently in the middle of a... disagreement." To say the least.

"...Our families were in the middle of a disagreement, yes." Kyouya-san looked slightly aside, his eyes not meeting Tsuna's. "However, my... predecessor... was on his way to a supposedly peaceful meeting to resolve the situation, under an order of complete ceasefire on both sides. Rest assured, Don Vongola... if it turns out you had anything at all to do with his demise, directly or indirectly... your life will be considered forfeit, both by myself and my entire family."

Tsuna nodded slowly, a brief gesture keeping Gokudera quiet and at the background. Though he doubted the other would have admitted it even if questioned, he could feel an aura of pain surrounding the other man. Simply the fact that he would so openly shoulder the responsibilities of being associated with a famiglia told volumes about how shaken he was.

And, much though he would have liked to, Tsuna couldn't offer him any comfort. Not as long as he couldn't bring a man back from the dead.

"I... understand," he said, nodding slowly. "That... is within your rights, though I do believe that won't be the result. I do hope you find his murderer soon... Don Cavallone."

"Oh, I will." Now, the look in Kyouya-san's eyes was pure determination, so sharp that Tsuna was almost surprised the cloud and mist rings on his hands did not immediately flare up. "Rest assured, Don Vongola... I will."

And then, there was a flicker of a flame, one that disappeared as quickly as it had come, and suddenly Kyouya-san was standing right in front of Tsuna, faster than either of their guards could react to. Mist flames hiding his approach, was all that Tsuna had time to think, right before Kyouya-san reached his hand towards him. Refusing to flinch away, Tsuna stood firm, trusting that the other would not harm him in such a cowardly manner. Kyouya-san had never liked using mist in battle, after all.

Something small fell onto Tsuna's palm. Hand instinctively closing to keep it from falling, he then opened his fist one finger at a time, looking at the object.

The Vongola cloud ring sat on his palm, glittering in the sunlight.

"Years upon years, you have refused to take it back," Kyouya-san said with a low voice, apparently entirely ignoring the nigh-panicking guards who did very much not like the sudden approach, his voice too quiet for them to hear. "You have no excuses left anymore, Tsunayoshi Sawada. I cannot possibly be counted among your guardians while standing at the head of a family in deep disagreement with yours."

"...I still consider us allies," Tsuna replied quietly, his eyes lifting from the purple-stoned ring to meet the older man's cold gaze. "I see no reason not to appoint a powerful ally as one of my guardians, regardless of his other titles."

"Even when I just told you that I would not hesitate to kill you, should it turn out you were responsible for Dino's death?" There was a twisted little smirk on Kyouya-san's face. "You have a rather strange image of guardians, Tsunayoshi Sawada."

"I am merely confident that this disagreement will be resolved without such measures." Because he couldn't afford to think otherwise. "Nevertheless, I will accept the ring back... until such a time that you will bear it again."

Kyouya-san's eyes narrowed minutely. "Pray that such a day would arrive, Don Vongola," he said softly. "And pray that you live to see it." Then, with another flicker of mist, he was again standing at a distance, surrounded by his own guards, leaving Tsuna's guardians in quite a hassle. Nodding briefly at Tsuna and turning around, he walked away without another look behind.

"Who does he think he is?" Gokudera spat as Kyouya-san was out of earshot, finally stepping to Tsuna's side. "To think that he had the gall to actually threaten the Tenth right in front of our eyes! We should have squashed him like a bug for such insolence!"

"Calm down, Gokudera," Yamamoto said, chuckling a bit. "Tsuna would have told us if there was a reason for that." Then his sharp eyes caught the ring still in Tsuna's hand, though, and he took on a serious look. "...You finally took it back, huh." It was hardly a secret that Kyouya-san had time and time again tried to return the ring to Tsuna, only to be turned down every time. He didn't do well with such affiliations.

"I had little choice," Tsuna murmured. "Gokudera... calm down. I know it's hard for you to think of it this way, but... he's my equal, now, not just one of my guardians. He's another Don. You can't just fight with him like you did before; we can't afford any more tension between Vongola and Cavallone." Granted, Gokudera had often had little trouble with arguing with Dino, but then Dino always took things at a stride whereas Kyouya-san tended to react far more aggressively, and besides... they had never been in such a tense situation with the Cavallone family before.

The last time he had talked with Dino face to face, the older man had looked at him so disapprovingly… as though he had killed those men himself. And Tsuna really couldn't blame him. After all, he had been just as hostile.

It was too late to regret such things, though. He couldn't take any of it back, couldn't change any of it. All he could do was try and live with the current situation and hope that everything would turn for the better.

However, he had a terrible, terrible feeling that things would only get worse.

*

"...The initial chaos was apparently quickly over." He glanced at the brief report. "Undicesimo flew back from Japan immediately, taking over the necessary functions. Unlikely though it would appear, Cavallone Famiglia seems to be the least affected by the incident among the Vongola alliance."

His words were followed by nothing but silence.

"We will have to wait and see how the situation develops," he continued then. "As it stands now, everyone knows things will change within the alliance. We'll just have to see if they change too much... or just about enough."

And if everything went as he hoped... the reign of Don Cavallone Undicesimo would be quite short.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyouya gets the last evidence he needs to move forward. Tsuna, meanwhile, gets the news too late.

"Any news?" Kyouya looked up from his papers as his second-in-command walked in. He'd mercilessly snatched Tetsu away from Foundation. Foundation could go on without Tetsu for a little while, but in Romario's absence his aid was invaluable in keeping the Famiglia in line.

"No new incidents, thankfully," Tetsu said. "Apparently they are still in something of a shock after... the accident."

"There was no accident about it." Kyouya sighed, rubbing his temples. He was starting to develop a migraine. "Two explosions, apparently caused by storm flames, are most certainly not an accident." Two explosions that had robbed away the best thing in his life.

"...Right." Tetsu walked up to his desk. "I have good news, though."

"Really?" Kyouya raised his eyebrows. "That would be a first in a while."

"Hopefully, this will turn the matters around." Tetsu placed a small plastic bag on the desk. Inside, there was a ring with a red stone on it. "This was found near the crash site."

"...A storm ring." Meaning it likely had been dropped by the culprit. His fingers curled around the edge of his desk, tight enough for his knuckles to turn white.

"It's a high purity ring," Tetsu said quietly. "A rather unique design, too. Luckily, we not only recognized it, but also found a mention of it in Foundation's records. Unsurprisingly, it belongs to a high profile mafia member."

"And who would that be?" Kyouya's eyes narrowed. Whoever that was, they were most likely responsible for... this.

He would not forgive them.

Tetsu looked at him seriously. "Ignazio Tessaro," he said. "The only son and main heir of Don Tessaro."

Despite rarely doing so, Kyouya now found himself cursing aloud. "I should have known it," he hissed. "If only I'd figured it out earlier..." Maybe, maybe he could have prevented the latest... attack.

"We had no proof earlier, Kyo-san," Tetsu reminded him, probably guessing his thoughts. "Now we have enough to at least question young Tessaro." Question. Right. The things people called cold-blooded torture nowadays.

"Indeed." His eyes narrowed as he stood up. "Do we have a track on him?"

"I've sent men out already," Tetsu replied. "We expect to locate him soon; he's not exactly trying to keep a low profile. Would you like them to move in when we find him?"

"No." Kyouya shook his head. "This... is a personal matter." And he would personally see it through. "Just let me know as soon as he has been located."

Tetsu nodded with a complete lack of surprise. "I'll prepare your alibi as well."

"Most excellent." He smirked a bit to himself. "Anything else?"

"Foundation sent over some more rings for you," Tetsu said. "They included some cloud rings, as well as a mist ring that we're hoping is strong enough it won't shatter in your standard use."

"Took them long enough." Not that he could blame them, really. The rings that could handle the intensity of his flames were few and far between. This far the Vongola ring had been the only one he'd used that hadn't shattered on him in the end, and now that he'd finally got it handed back to Sawada Tsunayoshi, he needed new ones to replace it. "See to it that I get them before I head out."

"Understood, Kyo-san." With one final nod, Tetsu left the room.

Left alone again, Kyouya stood by the window, looking out. A part of him wanted to go out and attack the Tessaro family proper right away, but then that was the difference between him and his middle school self. He'd actually learnt not to rush in without proof. Not that he had anything against killing the bastards on mere suspicion, but a reckless attack could have spelled trouble for the Cavallone Famiglia,

He had to think about the family. Dino had left it in his hands. That meant he had to protect it, as fiercely as he had once protected his beloved Namimori. He had to protect it, get it back on its feet after the shock of Dino's death, and to get his revenge.

And after that, well...

After that, he had no idea what he would do.

*

"Tenth!" Gokudera practically burst through the door of Tsuna's office. "Tenth, we just received an urgent report!"

"From whom?" Tsuna frowned. For all that Gokudera was usually enthusiastic, he had been feeling quite low ever since Dino's death, not reacting as energetically as he usually would. Now, though, he almost ran right over to Tsuna's desk, dropping a folder on it.

"Look." Gokudera pointed. The folder was labelled only with Tsuna's name, shut with the Cavallone seal. "No word on the contents, but..."

"...I see." Tsuna broke the seal, opening the folder. Starting to look over the files inside, he frowned. There were reports of business transactions, sightings, and missions overviews, the constant wall of text occasionally interrupted by a photograph or two. "...Most of this seems to involve the Tessaro Famiglia. What do you know about them?"

"Not much," Gokudera admitted, taking one of the reports and glancing at it. "They are a smallish family, trying to rise up but not much of a threat yet. They've been flexing their muscles a bit, but –" Suddenly, he paused, then cursed aloud. "Tenth. You've got to look at this."

"What is it?" Tsuna asked, worried. Gokudera looked almost pale. What could shock him so much? Taking the document from his second-in-command, he started looking through it. "...This is about the first incident."

"Yes... and no." Gokudera shook his head. "Note the attention to the Cavallone men involved – the ones who were then killed in retaliation." As Tsuna looked at the names and pictures, Gokudera then turned on a couple of leafs. "Here, one of them. Caught on security camera half an hour earlier in another town. This one, made a delivery to a non-Cavallone member that day on the other side of Italy. Last one was only witnessed by another Cavallone member, but that's still two unbiased testimonies out of three."

"But... that means..." Tsuna's eyes widened. "It wasn't them."

"No. No, it wasn't." Gokudera started quickly looking through the rest of the reports. "The rest of this... Tessaro's main illusionist was seen in the town that day. He's reportedly good enough to make believable disguises, and had had dealings with each of the three at least once. They have already made a profit from some rather beneficial deals that would have probably gone to Vongola or Cavallone if our attention hadn't been elsewhere." He started quickly sorting the files in various piles according to the contents. "If even half of this is true, we have quite a good suspect in this matter."

"Purposefully trying to ignite a war between two major families," Tsuna murmured, his brows knitting into an even deeper frown. "They're not going to get away with this if we find even a shred of evidence..."

A sharp curse cut short brought his attention back to Gokudera. The other was holding the last file in the folder, staring at it. "Tenth..."

"What is it?" He looked at Gokudera. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"...Tessaro's heir's ring was found near Dino-san's crash site." Gokudera dropped the document on the desk as though his hand were suddenly too weak to hold onto it.

Tsuna bit back a rare curse, himself. "...They'd already put the file together," he said. "Kyouya-san has known about this for a while."

"Which means," Gokudera said gravely, "by the time the folder reached your desk, their fate was already sealed." He gestured at the various piles of documents. "This is not an indication of what we should do... it's the evidence of why he did what he already has."

*

Don Tessaro was a respectable businessman in his late forties. Well, as respectable as any mafia boss could be, Kyouya assumed, keeping his expression in check. He could not afford to let his concentration break now, not when he had to keep up the illusion.

"Ignazio," the man said, looking up when he walked into the room. "What's the matter? I heard there was some kind of a problem."

"...One could say that." He shook his head. "Cavallone claim they can link me to the latest attack."

"And how can that be?" The Don raised his eyebrows. "I thought we were quite careful not to leave any evidence."

"They claim Foundation's technology found some traces of my ring." Or, actually, the ring itself, but then that was a meaningless detail. He had already got the evidence he needed. The poor young man had been quite forthcoming with information in his last moments, kindly allowing himself to be recorded on the matter, as well as providing information they needed to gather more concrete evidence. Dino's precious Famiglia would not be hurt any further over this. "Of course, it's hardly enough of a proof by itself, but they're getting suspicious."

"That's nothing worth our concern," the Don sneered. "They're currently in too much of a chaos in their lack of a boss to be any kind of a threat for a good while yet, I'm sure."

"I'm afraid you are quite mistaken," he said calmly, looking directly at the man. "The family is far from chaos... in fact, they are quite neatly organized behind the eleventh boss."

"The eleventh?" Tessaro raised his eyebrows, his expression a mixture of slight disbelief and mild interest. "I was under the impression Don Cavallone died without an heir. Certainly they could not have appointed a new leader this quickly."

"He died without a child, certainly." He couldn't help the slight smirk that took over his lips as he reached up to brush a lock of hair from his face, the tattooed 'C' on the back of his hand well visible. "But he did leave behind someone quite capable of cleaning up his messes."

Colour was drained rather quickly from Tessaro's face as Kyouya let the illusions fall. "You – you are –" The man pushed his chair away from him as though hoping to escape that way.

"Kyouya Cavallone, yes. Or, as one might do well to note... Don Cavallone Undicesimo."

"How did you get here?" Tessaro asked, his eyes widening. "And where's Ignazio? What have you done to my son?"

"I walked in here quite easily," Kyouya replied calmly. "I don't plan on taking the easy way out, though. As for your son... he is just waiting for you to join him in Hell."

"You won't get away with this." Tessaro stared at him, his face completely white.

"On the contrary." Kyouya shook his head. "We have concrete evidence linking you to my husband's death," no reason to use any pretty little euphemisms, now, "and enough circumstantial evidence to implicate you in the incident that started off the disagreement between Vongola and Cavallone. I could slaughter every person in this mansion, up to and including your infant daughter, and I would be perfectly within my rights to do so." Why, yes, he had done his research on the family beforehand.

"...No." Now, the man looked actually terrified. "My daughter has nothing to do with this."

"As the wronged party, that is for me to decide." Shifting his hands, he brought out his tonfas. "And now, Don Tessaro... as Don Cavallone Undicesimo... I have come to claim your life."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyouya has his revenge. It is absolute.

The house had fallen silent.

The only sound left were his steps, quiet as he walked down yet another hallway or looked into yet another room, looking for survivors where there were none. He had been quite effective, for all that he said so himself. The house of Tessaro had been brought down for good, never to rise again.

However, for all the men he had slaughtered today, he knew there was still at least one person left somewhere in the manor.

A trail of blood caught his eye, the marks of someone dragging themselves across the floor, not the usual carnage left behind by his merciless attacks. Swiftly striding along the line, he led himself into a room he could not recall checking before.

The source of the trail, he discovered, lay on the floor of the room, eternally silent. The destination of the poor thing – a maid of some sort, he noted impassively – appeared to be a beautifully engraved crib. Smirking a bit in satisfaction at having apparently found his target, he stepped closer, looking down into the crib.

The child was small, he noted, a mere infant still, small enough that he could have crushed her head with one hand. Her hair was golden in colour, what little there was of it, soft like down on her little head. A few specks of blood marked her skin, her eyes staring up at him in pure terror. However, she did not cry. Not anymore. Human children were devious creatures. Sometimes, if their cries were not answered for long enough, they fell silent instead so as not to tempt the predator any closer.

Sadly for her, the very person who had apparently tried to save her from the predator had actually brought the beast right to him.

"Flavia Tessaro," he murmured, settling his tonfa aside for a moment as he picked up the terrified child. "Your father and his schemes robbed me of the most precious thing in my life."

"Kyouya! Kyouya!" The Mist Sparrow flew into the room, settling himself on Kyouya's shoulder as it did so. "Kyouya! Baby?"

"Ah, you." He glanced at his pet. His precious little bird. A gift from Dino, that one day that seemed like ages ago, now. "Yes... it appears I won't need your help in locating her anymore."

For his revenge to be complete, he would only have to kill her. Kill her, and Tessaro's line would come to an end. There might be raised eyebrows, but nobody would dare question him about his actions. Not aloud, in any case.

The child's eyes were the deep blue of a young child, her hair soft and fine like a bit of golden down. She looked at him in the pure terror of one who faces death, but she still wouldn't cry. Not anymore.

"Say goodbye, child," he murmured, looking at her with an almost wistful feeling. "Nobody will save you from my clutches, now."

Not too long after he walked away, the manor going up in flames towards the sky behind his back, his blood-spattered jacket hanging from his shoulders, carefully arranged to protect the tiny burden on his arm.

*

"Don Cavallone." Tsuna strode right into Kyouya-san's office, not letting the guards stop him, not that they would have dared to even try. It was... difficult, thinking of it as such. The last time he had been here, it had still been Dino-san's.

Things had changed. The situation had changed. And, or so he feared, Kyouya-san had changed perhaps the most of all.

"Don Vongola." Kyouya-san nodded at him, pushing aside some form of a document or another at his arrival. Apparently he had been in the middle of working with something. "I understand we were to negotiate the end of hostilities."

"Not that there is much to negotiate about." Tsuna took a seat as indicated by Kusakabe, Gokudera standing just barely behind him. He had thought it unnecessary, but his right-hand man had insisted, and Tsuna hadn't had the energy to argue with him. He supposed Gokudera wasn't too far off, anyway. Their last direct meeting hadn't exactly been friendly. "We had to look deep, but it seems as though any existing grudges have been dealt with. After all, those responsible for the initial attack were... dealt with, and thus continuing the vengeance against Cavallone would be quite fruitless."

The fall of the Tessaro family had caused quite a big stir in the mafia world, the word spreading to every last corner of their society in the few weeks that had followed. Certainly there had been fights before, fights and squabbles and blood debts repaid, but this was still rather... unique. There were no records of anyone unauthorized entering, yet someone had moved out from the very core of the building, working their way outside, taking down any and all who stood in their way. Hitmen, guards, even servants, not a soul had been spared, as it appeared. In the end, whoever had caused all this had set the place on fire, leaving behind only charred ruins and remains. Some terrified phone calls had been the only testimony to whatever had happened on the estate, and by the time the reinforcements had arrived, nothing could have been done anymore.

He'd heard the only way they had identified Don Tessaro had been by the family heirloom ring his burnt corpse had still been wearing. The parallel with Dino-san was obvious.

Everyone knew who was responsible, of course. There were whispers and rumours and gossip after all, as there always was, but nothing that anyone would have dared utter aloud. The general consensus, though, was that the strike had been justified. Without any provocation, the Tessaro had not only schemed to lead two allies against each other, but had also struck to murder a beloved Don on his way to hopefully resolving the tense situation. Nobody questioned Kyouya-san's right in taking his revenge, even if the actual rage and bloodlust apparent in the gesture did shock some.

"There are still some... disagreeing... materials within Cavallone," Kyouya-san stated. "After all, we were the ultimate victims in this scheme. However, it seems I have managed to convince people that any more acts of vengeance would be unnecessary." He shook his head slowly. "The blood of those that fell has been repaid several times over."

"Don Cavallone..." Tsuna swallowed. What he was about to ask was rather bold, even in such a situation. "The Tessaro family... how complete was their destruction?" He was certain neither the Don nor his son had escaped Kyouya's vengeance. But perhaps... perhaps the other child, so much her brother's junior...

Well. He dared to hope, at least.

"...The Tessaro Famiglia is no more." There was a tone of finality in Kyouya-san's voice. "The line of that man is gone."

"...Right." Tsuna swallowed. Of course, he hadn't actually dared to hope for anything else, but it was still something of a... shock. He hadn't expected Kyouya-san to be quite so merciless. Certainly, he could be cruel and vengeful, but at least he usually had mercy on children, not that he would have ever admitted it.

Tessaro's young daughter hadn't been even a year old. A motherless little baby, half orphaned in birth. To think that Kyouya-san had actually cruelly killed her... it just seemed unthinkable. Of course, Kyouya-san had lost his most precious person, too, but still...

He noted the tension gathering in Gokudera by his side. Hopefully he would be able to contain it until they were out. The last thing they needed were any more hostilities between their families.

"So. Don Vongola." Kyouya-san looked directly at him. "Am I to assume that the hostilities between our families are over in favour of our former alliance? After all," there was an almost amused tone to his voice for a second, "it would be most beneficial to both of us."

"...Right." It was what Dino-san would have wanted, he told himself. It was what Dino-san would have wanted, and it was certainly the best for Vongola. This was the mafia. Whether he liked it or not, people died, even those who might have been considered too young or too innocent to be involved. He did strive for a more righteous path, himself, but he could hardly force his ways on other families. It would have been most unwise to suddenly call off their alliance for the sake of one child whom he had never even seen.

But still...

Just then, they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Kyouya-san turned his eyes towards it with a slightly irritated look, nodding minutely at Kusakabe. The burly man walked to the door, opening it. "What is it?"

"Ah, forgive me," said a rather flustered voice that Tsuna didn't recognize, the person speaking hidden behind Kusakabe's impressive frame in the doorway. "I know the instructions were not to disturb him, but she woke up and wouldn't settle no matter what we do..." Just then, the voices were underlined by the rather dissatisfied sound of a child crying.

There was an immediate change in Kyouya-san's expression, almost unnoticeable to most but clear as day to Tsuna's sharp eyes. "...Bring her." At his words, Kusakabe stepped aside, allowing someone who appeared to be a maid to walk into the room, looking rather harassed. In her arms she was carrying a small child, just a little baby, apparently busy making her dissatisfaction known.

Gokudera was apparently staring. Tsuna knew he certainly was. Ignoring them both for the moment, Kyouya-san accepted the baby from the maid, then immediately gestured for her to leave. She did so, apparently relieved to get out of his company. The child continued crying, then started to calm down as Kyouya-san held her close, one hand stroking her soft, golden hair.

"Ah, yes." Kyouya-san appeared entirely unfazed. "Sawada Tsunayoshi, Gokudera Hayato, may I introduce my daughter." Ignoring their shocked looks, he smirked. "The next one in line to the head of the Famiglia... Cavallone Grazia."

"...Grazia, huh." Suddenly, a deep sense of relief took over Tsuna. Of course. Even with... the recent events, Kyouya-san was still Kyouya-san. "She is... quite adorable."

Gokudera blinked, apparently unable to stay quiet about the issue. "Isn't that... Tessaro's daughter?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Gokudera Hayato. The Tessaro line is gone from this world." Kyouya-san shook his head quite determinedly. "This is Cavallone Grazia, my daughter. I can show you the adoption papers if you'd like, not that it is any of your concern. I was quite, ah, fortunate that they attended to my request so swiftly." As the child finally stopped fussing, he looked at Tsuna, again with that slightly amused tone in his voice as he spoke. "So, Don Vongola... our alliance?"

For all that he had felt fearful before, suddenly Tsuna could almost bring himself to smile.

This was what Dino-san would have wanted, surely.

*

The fire was spreading. The metaphorical fire, as they were still lucky in that aspect, not that he could truly consider them all that fortunate. For all that they were presenting a new, strong front to the world, it was obvious the Cavallone Famiglia had been dealt a rather fateful blow in the attack against their previous Don. Oh, certainly the current one had taken his revenge, but there was only so far such wanton acts of vengeance would get them.

Sooner or later, the chaos would lift its ugly head again, and when that happened, they would have to be prepared to step forward.

After all, that was when they would take the power from the hands of Undicesimo.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyouya's thoughts about Grazia and life are interrupted by an unexpected phone call.

Grazia, Kyouya had come to notice, was really quite the well-behaved child. For all that she was only a baby, she was generally quiet, only crying when something was truly wrong. For the most part she seemed to be content as long as she was fed, clean, and warm, and received occasional entertainment and attention.

At the moment she was certainly happy enough to sleep quietly, lying beside him on the bed, hugging her favourite toy. He supposed he should have taken her over to her own room, but he couldn't gather the energy to move just yet. She seemed all too happy to sleep there, anyway, and it wasn't like she could suddenly just roll all the way over the edge of the bed. He would take her when he went to tell someone to get him tea. He still had to deal with some paper work for the night, though nothing too urgent that he would have been forced to get to it right away.

Rolling over to his side, he looked at the sleeping child. There was a little smile on her face, thick eyelashes brushing against her little cheeks. Her little arms were clutching the coils of a miniature bull whip. The coil had been sewn shut so she couldn't get tangled in the soft imitation of a weapon, but the form was still almost painfully familiar.

Of course, he should have expected Sawada's little wife to spring into action when she inevitably heard about his new daughter. He was rather fortunate in that he had been spared a joined visit by the various females involved in the Vongola, but they had still chosen to send what they labelled as a "care package". Certainly, there was practically nothing he couldn't offer the child, but even then they apparently considered it necessary to send something.

There had been two tonfas, carefully hand-sewn into smaller, softer replicas of his own, and the whip. Suitable toys for a baby who would be the heir to a mafia family, or so the women apparently thought. Kyouya hadn't exactly been excited to see the miniature whip, but Grazia had taken quite a liking to it. He had decided to let her hold onto it. It wasn't like he couldn't deal with the familiar sight of a coiled whip, especially in such a ridiculously childish form. Being hurt by that would have been rather unforgivably herbivorous behaviour, and that would certainly not happen with him.

Nevertheless, he found himself hoping she wouldn't take up a whip as she grew old enough to use actual weapons instead of just seeking comfort from their soft replicas. Solely because he would be better able to instruct her in the use of tonfas, of course. He had no other reason.

His gaze wandered over to where a couple of hooks had been set on the wall, technically supposed to serve as a place for Dino's whip to stay, failing in that regard as he had rarely simply set it aside, having kept it by his reach instead. Now, it was empty. The whip had been lost in the fire and would not return home even now that the familiar hand wouldn't be gripping it anymore.

Kyouya let his eyes wander further, not allowing them to linger, gazing over the familiar furniture and the shadowed scenery outside the window. He had taken over the master bedroom, having his old room renovated into a nursery for Grazia. Sometimes he wondered whether it was entirely for the best to still reside in the room he had shared with Dino when he had an entire estate's worth of rooms to choose from. Other times he lay in his bed at night, eyes closed, feeling he could almost, just almost hear the breathing of someone else in the room, someone who wasn't a little baby with a habit of drooling on her pillow.

Even Tetsu wondered why he had taken Grazia in. Even refusing to kill her, he could have just as easily had someone else take her in. Adopting her as his own, even as he had changed her name and erased any official connections to her past, had hardly been the most logical conclusion in the situation. Even then, though, Kyouya knew he couldn't have done otherwise. Grazia coming with him had been as natural as it was for his mist sparrow to always flutter close to him.

Of course, from a purely strategic point of view, it was a viable choice. The family had to go on, after all, much though he hated to agree on absolutely anything with the idiotic advisors; not that he gave much thought to the Famiglia, personally, but it had been Dino's whole life and he still hadn't paid his entire debt to the older man. He was not exactly likely to couple with a woman of any kind, not even in a political marriage, and thus would not produce a biological heir. For all that he hated to even contemplate the issue, while the Tessaro Famiglia had been relatively small, its leading line had been strong. Little Grazia would surely grow up to be a force to be reckoned with, especially as she now got the chance to grow under his constant supervision and guidance. He would definitely do his best to raise her to be a strong and fearless Don who would be well capable of leading all these idiotic herbivores.

And, of course, once she was old enough to take charge, he would be free to leave.

It wasn't that he wished for death, no. He quite enjoyed being alive, in fact, having had quite a few too many brushes with the opposite direction. However, with the loss of his lover, his only reason not to take the risk of nigh-suicidal missions was currently happily asleep, wearing a set of pyjamas and a diaper.

For now, though, she was still just a little baby, just a little baby sleeping a mere arm's reach from his side. For all that she was sleeping peacefully, though, she seemed to be rather startled at the sudden sound of a cell phone ringing.

Looking over to the nightstand, he quickly gathered the cell phone he had left there was not ringing. Murmuring a few disgruntled words he got up from the bed, walking over to the dresser. Another phone lay there, currently ringing stubbornly. Picking up the phone, Kyouya looked at it with slight distaste. This did not bode a pleasant end to his evening...

Only four men knew the number of this particular phone. One was dead. Sawada knew better than to call it unless he had no other choice. Tetsu was in the next room over. This left only one possibility, unlikely though it was.

"Romario," he said as he brought the phone to his ear. "What is it? You have been... missing. Not even Tetsu managed to contact you."

"There was something I needed to take care of." And no further details. Of course not.

"Your presence would have been useful here, too." Not that he hadn't been able to handle it, obviously, he hadn't been exactly a stranger to the Cavallone organisation after all, but Romario's exact expertise as Dino's right-hand man would have been invaluable in getting the control into his hands quicker and with less complications. It was too late to worry about that anymore, though. It had been over a month since Dino's untimely death, and by now he was convinced he was holding onto all the strings he wanted to keep in his hands.

"I had faith in you, Kyouya-san." Romario actually sounded a bit confident, not that it mattered. "After all, the Boss appointed you as his successor."

"In lack of anyone else," Kyouya commented wryly. "So. People are gossiping you were actually the one who murdered Dino. As not even my paranoia will allow me to believe such nonsense, barring that, why did you disappear, what was so important you couldn't send any word about your whereabouts, and what prompted you to contact me now?" He walked back to the bed, carefully lying himself down so as not to startle the slumbering child. For all that she was perhaps peaceful now, he knew very well Grazia would not appreciate being woken up before she was good and ready.

"That's a lot of questions, Kyouya-san," Romario replied. "A lot of questions I do plan to answer, but all in due time. After all," he added, his voice notably calm considering the words used, "you will likely wish to kill me once you hear the truth."

Kyouya's free hand reached out to brush at Grazia's golden hair. "I rather doubt that, unless the gossip turned out to be true, and as Tessaro turned out to be responsible that doesn't seem to be likely."

"No, I did not kill him," Romario replied, still with that unnatural calmness. "Rather... you might say I did the opposite, in a way."

"And what would be the opposite?" Kyouya asked, raising his eyebrows. Grazia continued to sleep peacefully even as he petted her hair lazily, one end of the soft little whip stuck in her mouth.

"...I believe the best way I could explain that would be the explanation of why I did contact you at last." He paused. "Someone told me to."

"Oh?" Kyouya's eyebrows flew even higher. "And who exactly could command you to do so when you kept yourself hidden from your Don?"

"How about I let him tell you, himself." There were some sounds of movement at the other end of the line. Suddenly, a terrible feeling that was closest described as dread spread itself within Kyouya. Certainly it couldn't be...

"Hello, Kyouya." The voice was slightly tired, tired and distorted by its trip through the telephone connection, but it was still so very familiar. "I'm glad to hear you are doing so well."

Dino.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple of rather eventful phone calls lead to a long-awaited visitor arriving at Kyouya's office.

Kyouya was quiet for a good, long while. Finally, he breathed out slowly. "...Explain."

"I'm sorry, Kyouya," Dino sighed. "Believe me, I never wanted to deceive you. It took a while until I even knew about the entire scheme, considering I was injured and all, but –"

"That is not an explanation," he cut in. "That's an apology. I do not recall asking for one."

"Sorry." Another sigh. "You know... the body was burned beyond recognition."

"Yes, I do know." Kyouya's tone was rather bitter. "The body half the mafia world, never mind myself, buried as you in a rather massive ceremony."

"I know... The truth, as Romario tells me, is that I was badly injured in the car crash. Romario got me out before the second explosion, but he figured I would be in further danger, especially hurt as I was. He hid me away... then put my ring on a guard who had been killed in the attack and was pretty close to me in height and build. Of course he still had to pull some strings to hinder the investigation, but the ring did most of the work in deceiving people..."

"Indeed." Kyouya looked over to where the ring lay on his nightstand next to his various flame rings. He didn't wear it all the time, hardly over his dislike for rings, but he did keep it with him at all times. It was, after all, the ultimate symbol of Don Cavallone.

Except it now appeared the title did not belong to him just yet. Fancy that.

"Romario didn't dare contact you or anyone else until he could be sure I was safe," Dino murmured. "He made sure I was cared for, but we couldn't let anyone know I was alive... I'm still not exactly in peak condition, but I finally managed to pester him into letting you know over the most secure connection we had."

"I see." So that was it. All this pain and suffering had come to him because Romario had thought him unable to protect his lover. Most excellent. "And I presume you both missed the part where the culprits were found and disposed of relatively soon after the incident?"

"Romario said we couldn't be sure someone else wouldn't jump at the chance," Dino replied. "Especially considering there might still be some bad blood between us and Vongola... I felt bad for causing you so much worry and pain, but I trusted your ability to handle things even if I wasn't there for a little while."

"You overestimate yourself, Dino." Then why did his chest suddenly feel so very tight? "I am fine. The Famiglia is fine. Nobody has died as a result of your presumed demise, except for the Tessaro Famiglia. And before you even manage to complain about that," he interrupted as he heard Dino starting to say something, "I would have killed them even if I had known the attempt at your life to have been unsuccessful."

"Oh, Kyouya. You are ever so reliable, aren't you?" Dino's tone softened. "I'm happy... happy that you took the Famiglia into your hands in my absence. I'll admit I was worried you would simply choose to disappear and leave everything in chaos... but instead, you became the Don in my place. I'm happy, Kyouya. Happy and proud."

"Useless is what you are," Kyouya murmured. "What is your current condition? Are you planning on returning any time soon?"

"I will be back as soon as possible," Dino assured him, "which should be a couple of days at most. We aren't exactly around the corner, but Romario's already been making arrangements to get me there."

"Most excellent." Grazia shifted a bit in her sleep, her lips curved in a soft smile. Kyouya smirked. "That does remind me... there is someone I have to introduce you to."

"Oh?" He could practically hear the widened eyes in Dino's tone. "And who'd that be? I hadn't heard about any new alliances or anything..."

Kyouya chuckled inwardly. "Oh, it's still a bit of a secret, considering I don't feel it necessary for anyone to know just yet," he said calmly. "However, you might be relieved to know that I finally gave in to the incessant demands of your dear advisors." In a manner of speaking only, but then if he couldn't know his lover was still alive, the two conspirators could squirm for another while. "There is nowadays a female in the Cavallone household."

"...I see." There was a weird tone to Dino's voice that he wasn't sure he could interpret over the phone. "I... guess I look forward to you introducing us."

"You should." Compared with what was doubtlessly going through the Bucking Horse's head right now, the thought of being stuck with a child he hadn't had a say in would probably be preferable, knowing the herbivore. "I shall be... awaiting your return."

"...I'll call you when we know more about our schedule."

"You do that."

Dino ended the call simply, without any of the usual endearments he was so fond of inserting into even the most inappropriate situations. Apparently he had been somewhat shaken. Good. He deserved all of it for making Kyouya feel so... well. Uncomfortable was probably a good enough word.

"Good news, Grazia," he murmured, hand brushing lightly along the side of her little face. "You won't be messed up by being raised by me alone."

Grazia obviously didn't reply, but he was certain she smiled just a bit.

*

A phone call didn't surprise Tsuna. He received several of them every day, after all. Just because it came directly to him instead of being screened by someone was also not a particular reason for concern.

However, when he heard the voice of someone who was supposed to be dead, well, he was slightly startled indeed. "Dino-san?!"

"Yes, it's me." At least the chuckle was familiar. "I'm sorry for having deceived everyone, Tsuna... Romario merely decided that faking my death would be the best way to prevent any further attempts at my life until I got better."

"Kyouya-san is definitely going to be relieved," Tsuna said. "Everyone will be. We were quite upset." To say the least.

"So I've come to understand. I called Kyouya already... you're the second one on my list."

"Really? I'm honoured." Because obviously Kyouya-san would be first. After all, he was Dino-san's lover.

"Tsuna..." Now, Dino-san sounded quite strange. "When I called Kyouya earlier... he said he wanted to introduce me to someone."

"Ah, yeah." Tsuna chuckled. "That must be Grazia-chan, then." He was sure Dino-san would be quite surprised...

"You knew about her?" Again that strange tone.

"Of course! I met her a little while back. She's really cute. Kyoko's been all excited about the matter, too," he added. "I think she and the other ladies sent her a gift of some kind."

Dino-san was quiet for a while. Finally, he asked, "Why didn't you say anything about it?"

"Huh?" Tsuna blinked. It wasn't like they had been chatting quite that long... "I guess it just didn't cross my mind. I mean, of course it's surprising, but really in the end it's hardly the topmost matter –"

"I can't believe you'd say that!" Dino's sudden outburst actually startled Tsuna. "How can it not be important that Kyouya has replaced me in a month? And with a woman, no less!"

It took him a moment to understand just what Dino-san was saying. As he finally understood, though, he couldn't help but laugh. "You... thought he has a girlfriend?" The mere thought of Kyouya-san dating a woman was just... well. Not something that would ever happen in the real world. The idea of him being a couple with Dino-san was strange enough.

"Do you mean to say he doesn't?" Dino-san sounded rather offended. "He told me he'd added a woman to the household, and just now you confirmed it! How stupid do you think I am?"

"Not stupid at all," Tsuna hurried to say, "merely a bit... misguided." He smiled, not that Dino-san could see it over the phone. "Dino-san... Grazia-chan isn't a woman. She's a girl. A baby, in fact," he added before Dino-san had any time to draw any more unfortunate conclusions. "Kyoko's gift for her was stuffed toys. She isn't even a year old."

"...A baby?" Dino sounded disbelieving. "Kyouya... has a baby?"

"Yes. An adopted daughter. I'm afraid you're going to be a father, Dino-san." Tsuna chuckled, then turned a bit more serious. "Kyouya-san won't admit it, but it's rather apparent he didn't kill Tessaro's little daughter. Instead, he adopted her. Of course, he's made sure to erase any and all evidence about her background, and refuses to say anything specific about Tessaro Flavia's fate, but the timing and particulars are rather too coincidental to draw any other conclusions."

"He adopted the girl?" Dino-san's voice softened a bit. "That's..."

"That's very much like Kyouya-san, I'd imagine," Tsuna said. "He can cite all kind of logical reasons for taking in a child, but whenever he holds her," not that he'd seen it a lot of times, but still, "it's apparent he does care about her at least a bit."

"Thank you, Tsuna." Dino-san sounded awfully relieved. "That... really makes me feel better."

"Good to hear." Tsuna paused. "Dino-san... he missed you an awful lot, you know," he murmured. "When he thought you were dead... it obviously hurt him more than I had thought even possible. Please don't do that to him again." Please don't do that to us all again.

"I promise you, Tsuna... I'll do my very best to avoid any and all attacks against my life in the future."

For all that it sounded mainly like a bad joke, it really did make Tsuna feel better.

"Oh, and Dino-san? ...Could you please try and convince him to accept a certain ring back? You know, now that he won't be so busy with running the family all by himself..."

There was a definite hint of amusement in Dino-san's voice, now. "...I'll see what I can do."

*

The sphere appeared to be made of clear glass. It was perfectly smooth from what he could see, resting somewhat precariously on his desk.

Reaching out his hands to grasp it, he saw at first a flicker, then a burst of flames shooting from the points where he touched it, soon filling the entire interior of the sphere with a crackling little storm of fire. They were mainly purple, but the twirls of indigo within were not exactly negligible, either.

"I must say," he murmured, mainly to himself, "out of all the things Spanner has made, this is one of the most useful." Grazia, currently happily playing on a baby blanket on the floor, didn't respond one way or another.

Employed as he was by the Vongola family nowadays, Spanner could sometimes be tempted to create technology that had little to do with moscas. This latest development was the result of cooperation between Spanner and the best ring technicians Foundation had to offer. The sphere was not as much a tool as it was an indicator. Whereas rings could be used to make use of each individual's flames, the sphere was meant to simply show the intensity, purity, and attribute of their potential. Not requiring the activation process of rings, it merely drew out a show of the flames the holder had the full potential for. This made it useful in testing out who among their numerous subordinates was even worth the training required for using box weapons, as well as solved the problem of not knowing which ring to train the lighting of the flame with.

Of course, such things always had limitations, which was exactly why Kyouya was currently holding the prototype in his hands. It had already been calibrated to bear the intensity of Sawada Tsunayoshi's dying will without breaking, as well as Gokudera Hayato's less powerful but more numerous flames. If it could handle two flames as strong as Kyouya's were, Spanner had said, it would tolerate the flames of any individual they were likely to encounter.

Watching the swirling flames within the sphere, he had to admit he was rather satisfied he was the strongest individual Spanner had thought of to test his little device with.

There was a knocking sound from the door of his office. Raising his eyebrows, he looked over. "Tetsu?"

"I'm afraid," said Tetsu's voice, "it's not just me."

The door opened to reveal Don Cavallone Decimo.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dino and Kyouya talk.

There was a second or two of silence as they looked at each other, Tetsu and Dino at the door and Kyouya at his desk. Then, very calmly, he set the sphere in his hands on the desk, standing up.

They probably expected it, but nevertheless Tetsu and Dino appeared startled as he suddenly attacked forward, tonfas drawn. However, they were even more surprised to realize he was heading for Tetsu, not his spouse.

Taking advantage of the surprise, he banged Tetsu's tall form against the wall, a tonfa pressed against his throat. Leaning forward, he then pressed a light kiss on the surprised lips. "Welcome home," he murmured, "my husband."

The illusions dissolving, Dino stared at him, wide-eyed. "You... how?" Romario, having shed Dino's guise, appeared just as surprised.

"You should know by now that I hate nothing as much as illusions," Kyouya replied with a slight smirk. "Which also lends to the fact I'm quite skilled in detecting them." Of course, it rather helped that Tetsu wasn't due back for another half an hour. "And no, Romario, I never quite believed your story about a sun flame."

"I had to make an effort," Romario replied. "I wasn't quite sure how you would react to either of us."

"But you knew Tetsu was the one I had no reason to hurt," Kyouya added, stepping back a bit to let Dino breathe. It would have been quite counterproductive to let him die now. "Yes, that would have been quite a good plan to save your dear master, if not for the fact I'm not about to be deceived quite that easily."

"I guess I should be relieved," Dino said with a faint chuckle. "I would have hated to see you kiss Romario..."

"...Indeed." Taking another step back, Kyouya gave him a long, scrutinizing look. Dino looked rather pale, and it was obvious he was still not in his best condition, as evident in the way he had been unable to evade Kyouya's attack. Nevertheless, well or not, he was infinitely better than dead.

His hand reaching out to trace the outline of Dino's face, subconsciously making sure he really was there and not just another illusion, Kyouya found he had never before felt quite so relieved. It was like a heavy burden had been lifted off his heart, allowing him to breathe freely for the first time since Tetsu had brought him the fateful news.

"I'm alive, Kyouya," Dino said softly, a faint smile on his face. "Sorry it took me a while."

"An apology is neither necessary nor enough." Without taking his eyes off Dino, he stepped quickly to the side, swinging his tonfa at the carelessly relaxed Romario. The force of the impact sent him flying, followed by a crash. Turning around, Kyouya saw him lying next to the desk. The documents on top of the desk had been scattered about, the sphere rolling over the edge and falling on the floor. It didn't shatter. Good to know. It was still the only prototype of the latest design, after all. "You, on the other hand..."

"...I apologize." Romario looked up at him, surprisingly calmly considering he had to sense the murderous aura Kyouya was giving off. "I realize I should have notified you, but..."

"But you what? You thought it might be fun to see me suffer?" Kyouya spat. "Thought it unnecessary to inform me that my husband was actually not dead? You know what happened when we travelled in time! If I could fake the death of Don Vongola to the entire mafia world, did you not think I might be able to help when the scheme involved Dino?"

"I merely did not want to endanger him by risking anyone hearing about it," Romario replied. "The so-called death of Don Vongola was planned beforehand, while I had to improvise. It was hard enough arranging for medical attention when I couldn't let anyone know who the patient was."

"Good thing you could disguise him, though." Kyouya narrowed his eyes as he stalked closer. "Didn't seem to stop you from calling me when you finally deemed it safe enough for me to know, a month after I disposed of his presumed murderers."

"Kyouya, stop it," Dino said quietly. He knew better than to think that desperate pleading would work any better. "I know you're upset at us for hiding it, but... Romario saved my life. Isn't a month of thinking I'm dead still better then a lifetime of knowing so?"

"...I'll think about it." Kyouya glared at Romario. "The only reason you're going to survive at the moment is that I don't want to kill you in front of my daughter." He looked over to where Grazia sat, out of sight from the door, the desk shielding her from any random intruder's interest. She had stopped her games, startled by the sudden commotion, but didn't cry."...I would leave right now before I change my mind, though, if I were you."

Romario didn't question, didn't comment. He merely got up to his feet and hurried out of the room. Good. There would be time for... discussion... later.

"...Your daughter, huh." Dino's hand settled on Kyouya's shoulder as he walked closer to where he could see the child. Grazia looked at them curiously. "You deceived me, Kyouya."

"I never said an untrue word," Kyouya protested. "And even if I had, my deception would hardly have been comparable to yours."

"I guess." Dino's chuckle was almost... sad. "Will you allow me to be her father as well, Kyouya?" They both knew his question meant more than what was actually said.

To be Grazia's father, he would have to be by Kyouya's side.

"...Dino Cavallone." Kyouya turned around, looking him directly in the eye. "You nursed me back to health after I was broken. I have taken your name. I have allowed myself to enter an arrangement with you that's as close to marriage as we can legally achieve. I took over your Famiglia as you were presumed dead. I slaughtered the entire family responsible for the attack on your life." He shook his head. "Believe me... it will take more than one death for you to escape from my clutches."

Dino didn't say anything in response. Instead, he leaned closer to press a kiss on Kyouya's lips.

Grazia laughed a bit, prompting them to look over. Still sitting on her blanket, the child's reaching hands had caught the sphere that Romario's misfortune had knocked on the floor, lighting it up with a bright light.

"Well," Kyouya said, rather amused. "I suppose I will have to ask Spanner for another copy of his little prototype. Merely for testing purposes, of course."

"What is that?" Dino raised his eyebrows, looking at the sphere. "Some new invention?"

"That," Kyouya replied, walking closer and picking the sphere up from the child, "is the proof that she is indeed a capable heir for the name." The bright orange flames made way for purple and indigo, only to fade into nothingness as he set it on the desk.

"...Sky flames, huh." Dino crouched down in front of Grazia. "Hello, Grazia-chan. I'm afraid you'll have to share Kyouya's affections with me from now on. Don't worry, though, I'll do my best to make up the difference. I've been told I can be quite affectionate."

Grazia frowned at the unfamiliar face, clutching onto Kyouya as he picked her up. "I'm sure you two will find some common ground," he said. "If nothing else, you both love your whips."

"Oh?" Dino raised his eyebrows. "What would a child do with a whip?"

"Gnaw on it, obviously." Kyouya smirked. "After all, hers is a mere stuffed toy courtesy of Sawada Kyoko. ...For now, in any case." He did plan on teaching her to fight, after all. She just had to grow up a bit first... and learn to walk, preferably.

"As is appropriate," Dino murmured. "We have plenty of time to raise her to be a proper mafia boss... hopefully a less clumsy one than I am."

"Which reminds me... I do expect you will take over the Famiglia once again."

"Gladly, Kyouya," his lover replied. "Though I will continue to need your and Romario's help for a bit yet. I am still recuperating, after all."

"You are just hoping to get me to put his death off enough that my rage sets." He might actually decide to be merciful... might. After all, Romario had indeed saved Dino while Kyouya himself had been on the other side of the world, unable to help.

"The thought might have crossed my mind, yes." Dino smiled. "...I know you plan to beat me up the next time we spar, but... You will forgive me, won't you?"

"I might. If you're lucky." Kyouya chuckled softly. "Of course, you might get a chance to convince me to see your side of the matter tonight once Grazia is asleep..."

Dino took on a mock pitiful expression. "So no more chances for spontaneous acts of perverse sexual lust in the middle of the day? It really is true that kids ruin marriage."

"You are Don Cavallone. Our chances for such acts are quite limited to begin with. Besides," Kyouya added, "the fact the darling old advisors won't be breathing down your neck about an heir anymore should somewhat diminish the chances of my walking out on you for good." Never mind the fact that he wasn't about to abandon Grazia like that.

"Good to know what exactly keeps me safe from a messy divorce once again." Dino reached his hand to brush lightly against Kyouya's cheek. "Worry not... I'll do my best to be a good papà for little Grazia. And of course," now he got a little smirk, "I'll do my very best to convince you of the advantages of keeping me around."

"I'm sure you'll work your hardest," Kyouya replied, returning the smirk. "Better save some of your energy, though."

"Oh?" Dino looked at him questioningly. "Because of my injuries?"

"Oh, no." Kyouya shook his head. "Because I'm sure you and Romario will need all your resources as you try to come up with a suitable explanation for your sudden resurrection to the mafia world at large."

The look on Dino's face rather resembled a deer in the headlights.

Oh, yes. He might actually admit he had missed the man.


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dino makes a certain proposition. Grazia is in favour.

"Look, Kyouya!" Dino's voice was the closest thing to an audible grin Kyouya had yet come across in his life. "Look, she's walking!"

"...I can see that." Kyouya smirked as he looked over to the two, having fun on the floor. Grazia was taking tiny steps with a mightily focused expression on her face, Dino's hands hovering just barely away from her, ready to catch her should she fall. The almost-year-old crossed the rest of the way to Dino, giggling as she was hugged close. "You've shown me several times already."

"You should be a bit more excited, Kyouya," Dino complained. "Can't you see she's got a great sense of balance? She'll be a great fighter some day!" He played with the child, tickling her. She squirmed and laughed and kicked her little feet.

"I'm sure she will." Kyouya nodded calmly, watching the two with what some people might have actually called a smile. "After all, she'll be raised by two such fighters." He set aside the book he had been reading, reaching out his arms. "Grazia. Come here."

"Papá!" Turning to give him a beaming smile, she left the safety of Dino's arms, taking a few staggering steps. Dino quickly crawled after her, not about to let her get too far from his hands.

"That's right. Come to Kyo-papá." He was very well aware that most people would not have believed their eyes had they seen him talking in such a manner to a child. Of course, he cared very little about the opinion of most people.

"Kyooo," she tried, giggling as she waggled on, little arms spread far for balance. "Papá!"

"Most excellent." She reached the reach of his hands, losing her balance just at the last step, falling safely into his hold. "Well done, Grazia."

She giggled again, happy to be picked up. As she snuggled up to his chest, though, he noticed something poking at him. Holding her out at an arm's length, he noticed something bulging in the pocket of the toddler's dress. Raising his eyebrow at the angelically smiling Dino, he set her down in his lap and fished out whatever had been deposited there in the middle of her snuggles with the blonde Don.

"...Dino." He looked at the small jewellery box in his hand. "Don't tell me this is what I think it is."

"That would depend on what you think it is." Crawling closer on the floor, he looked at him expectantly, obviously waiting for him to open the box. Doing so, he saw something small and round and shining.

"...You know I don't wear rings outside battle." And certainly not rings that were of no value in said battles, no matter how sleek and beautiful they were.

"That's why it's technically not a ring," Dino replied. "If you'll look carefully, you'll find it's an earring. I thought you might find that a bit less unpleasant."

"...An earring." Kyouya looked at him with narrowed eyes. "...Get on with it."

"Right. Ahem." Kneeling on the floor right in front of Kyouya, Dino cleared his throat one last time. "Cavallone Kyouya. I know you already bear my name, and have acted as my de facto heir. You already make me the happiest man alive every day I get to be with you."

"That's because you're a sappy fool," Kyouya quipped as Dino paused for a bit.

"Yes, well... that might be true." Dino chuckled a bit nervously. "Nevertheless, Kyouya... will you marry me?"

Kyouya raised his eyebrows. "You know as well as I do that's not legal."

"We can still have the ceremony," Dino insisted. "I know you hate any kind of binding relationships, and something like this would certainly go against all traditions, but... even so, I'd like to make it clear to everyone just how I feel about you."

"You want to possess me." His voice was perhaps a bit sharper than was strictly necessary.

"...I know I could never truly own you, Kyouya. Even if you have taken my name – even if you associate with my Famiglia – I know that ultimately, you are free. I know I could never truly trap you. And that's part of why I love you. I never want that to change, even if sometimes I fear you won't come back one day." Dino looked at him seriously. "But... I wouldn't mind people knowing I'm yours. Knowing that even if you do leave, I will be waiting for you."

For a bit, Kyouya was quiet. There was, in the end, a certain point to Dino's words. He was a possessive bastard after all... and he knew he would always return, loathe though he was to admit such a herbivorous tendency. He would return, because he knew far too well the pain of the mere thought of never seeing the other again.

Finally, he looked at the child in his lap. "What do you think, Grazia?" he asked. "Should I bear some idiotic crowding just to let your other papà have his way?"

Grazia looked at him seriously. "Ah," she said firmly. "Papà."

"I guess that leaves me with no choice." He looked over at Dino. "I will tolerate a small ceremony – a small one, mind, not a massive gathering for everyone who has even heard your name, I dealt with enough of that in your funeral – though I am likely to seek balance for that by disappearing for a while afterwards."

"...I never expected otherwise." Dino gave him a beaming grin. "Will you wear the ring?"

"...This is because I was the only one who said the thunder guardian's new ear piercing was his own choice, isn't it?"

"No. It's because I thought it'd look good on you." Reaching out, Dino took his hand, a thumb caressing the scarred, pale skin. "...And because you have a bad habit of breaking or returning any regular rings."

"I took Vongola's back." Only because it was useful, of course. And because the missions occasionally let him fight against strong opponents. There was no other reason for it. "Though I have no intention of ever wearing yours again." He looked at the signet ring on Dino's hand. "That will belong to Grazia." The child looked up at the mention of her name. In the months after her adoption, she had certainly learnt to recognize it, along with her parents.

"And I," Dino said softly, "will always belong to you."

"Yes," said Kyouya, smirking as Dino pressed a light kiss on his hand. "I know."

And he fully intended to keep it that way.


End file.
